1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an antistatic structure for preventing a fuel pipe from being charged in contact with a fuel that has been charged by friction with a fuel pipe or a strainer.
2. Description of the Related Art
A fuel tank for an automobile is provided with a strainer for removing foreign matters in a fuel and various pipes such as a feed pipe, a return pipe, and a vent pipe. The feed pipe feeds a fuel to an injector of an engine. The return pipe returns, to a fuel tank, an excess fuel which is not jetted from the injector in the engine. The vent pipe is connected to a filler tube at an upper space of the fuel tank so as not to prevent the injection of the fuel from the filler tube to the fuel tank. If the fuel is charged by friction when flowing in the pipes or the strainer, the pipes are charged in contact with the fuel. If the pipes are thus charged, a difference in potential might be made between the body side and the pipes to generate a discharge.
JP-A-2000-266240 has described such a structure that pipes such as a fuel pipe, a brake pipe, a power steering pipe and a lubricating oil pipe are collectively supported on a piping holding portion formed of a conductive resin and the piping holding portion is fixed to a vehicle body through a bracket and a bolt which are formed of a metal, thereby transferring electric charges accumulated in the pipes to the vehicle body.
However, there has conventionally been a problem in that a special member such as the bracket or the bolt is required for fixing the piping holding portion formed of the conductive resin to the vehicle body in the state of electrical connection, resulting in an increase in the number of parts.